1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to systems from which articles can be hung and, in particular, to a general purpose, elongated horizontal support system for positioning between and in engagement with vertically oriented, rigid, planar, opposed, recipient surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Elongated horizontal support systems, from which various articles can be suspended, of known designs and configurations are well known in the prior art. The elongated horizontal support systems, previously devised and utilized for the same purpose, are either known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, or having complicated and cumbersome structures, as for example: US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0178310, published on Sep. 16, 2004 under the title “Self Adhesive Shower Rod and Support” (inventor Marion) describes a shower rod having a first and a second U-shaped cradle supports. Each of the latter has a complimentary configuration to the shower rod and is attached to an adjacent vertical wall by an adhesive. The aforementioned combination has two important shortcomings: first, the attachment to the walls does not appear durable, and second, the system does not provide a reliable stability. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,843 granted on Jul. 29, 2003 to Bell et al. for an “Extendable Bracket for Window Covering Components” that describes an assembly comprising an extendable bracket provided with a mounting base with a base plate and intended for supporting hardware components. The base plate has an attachment side for mounting to a surface and has a support side opposite the attachment side. A base support element extends from the support side of the base plate. A first extension part has a first body with a proximal end adjacent the mounting base and a first extension support element that extends from an opposite distal end of the first body.
The main disadvantage of the above assembly resides in the fact that it uses components with complicated configurations, not easy to manufacture and, therefore, relatively costly. Yet another example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,426 granted on Dec. 17, 2002 to Wilks for a “Mounting System”. In this patent is described a system comprising a cylindrical member having an interior surface and an exterior surface. The cylindrical member further includes a first end with a first edge and female threads formed in the interior surface adjacent to the first edge. The system further comprises a mounting plate having an interior face and an exterior face and a generally cylindrical, thin, outer circumference. The latter is provided with three arcuate concave regions, each about 60 degrees, equally spaced around the circumference. The mounting plate is also provided with three arcuate convex regions, each about 60 degrees, equally spaced around the circumference between the concave regions. The convex regions each has male threads adapted to releasably couple to the threads of the cylindrical member.
As can be seen, the foregoing patent discloses a relatively complicated solution.